laminitis

[sanchob]

Our poor boy has had laminitis since march , It has been a long road with many ups and downs.He is a welsh cob x with superb paces and really excels at his dressage.My daughter produced him from a 3yr old and has done an amazing job and they were regular winners on the dressage circuit . I look at him now and hope with all my heart that he will return to how he was at some point.... I think of how careful we were with him as lamininitis is always i,m sure in the back of most horse owners minds . He is much more comfortable but the shoeing knocks him for six .He still looks terrible on the concrete but gets in the arena and looks great . My vet has advised as that after 2 lots of x rays prior to shoeing he has no rotation he should firstly be led in school 5 mins a day and now we are up to the riding at walk for 30 mins a day.He is like dynamite and just squeaks and bucks which i,m sure is not good for his feet.Yest he looked footy again on right foot which has always been the worst one so i wonder should he still be walking?When he was shod 2 wks ago my farrier said he still had live laminii (excuse the spelling ) in the right foot as it bled a little when trimmed .Apparently thats unusual but good.

 

[be positive]

Have you considered leaving him unshod, my farrier will usually do this especially if there is no rotation. It is healthier for the feet more opportunity to trim regularly so less problems when they are trimmed as a little can come off the foot more frequently, my pony was trimmed every 3-4 weeks.
The frog will be in contact with the ground without shoes, better to support the pedal bone and encourage healing because of improved circulation.

I would rather let a pony that is still footy have turnout, in a pen or arena, than ridden exercise safer for all involved in my view but this may not be the view of your vet.

He should by now be well on the road to full recovery, have you got his diet right by cutting out ALL sugars, it is most important that all hay is well soaked and any hard feed is of the lowest sugar/ starch possible, be careful about feeding some of the approved feeds they are not all as low as you would expect.

Finally has he been tested for cushings and IR as there could be an underlying reason for the laminitis.

They will all respond in different ways, some recover more quickly than others but if your pony is not doing as well as you feel he should it is worth trying a different approach with the support of the professionals involved.

 

[Kaylum]

What have you done to sort your grazing out? This is the main factor why so many horses have laminitis. Rye grass is not good for horses and believe it or not so many are feeding the wrong type of grass and have no idea about meadow management.

 

[itsonlyme]

I also would never again shoe a laminitic. Is he in hearbars? Going barefoot does a better job of supporting the foot. Increased blood supply to the foot will speed up healing. Shoes massively reduce blood supply.

http://www.thesoulofahorse.com/barefoot.htm look at the thermal image of this horse. The blue leg has a shod foot. The other 3 legs have no shoes. You can see the massive difference in temperature, and therefore blood supply.

What are u currently feeding him?

 

[touchstone]

He is much more comfortable but the shoeing knocks him for six .He still looks terrible on the concrete but gets in the arena and looks great . My vet has advised as that after 2 lots of x rays prior to shoeing he has no rotation he should firstly be led in school 5 mins a day and now we are up to the riding at walk for 30 mins a day.He is like dynamite and just squeaks and bucks which i,m sure is not good for his feet.Yest he looked footy again on right foot which has always been the worst one so i wonder should he still be walking?When he was shod 2 wks ago my farrier said he still had live laminii (excuse the spelling ) in the right foot as it bled a little when trimmed .Apparently thats unusual but good.

I honestly wouldn't be happy that shoeing 'knocks him for six'. A foot shouldn't bleed when being trimmed, you may get dried blood from an old laminitic attack where it has grown down, but I'd suspect that he has been trimmed too short which would also account for him being knocked for six I wouldn't say that seeing blood was a good sign tbh.

Personally I'm pro barefoot for laminitis cases; combined with very careful management I found it far better for mine.

 

[AngieandBen]

Poor boy, having nails bashed into his hoof while being sore Agree with the others, take his shoes off and keep him on a deep bed until he is more comfortable moving about. Take it slowly and get some advise off a good barefoot trimmer or at least a farrier who takes an interest in working horses bare

 

[Miss L Toe]

I am no expert in laminitis, but it is obvious that neither the farrier nor the vet are doing any good.
So.......... get the shoes off, box rest on a deep bed with turnout in a pea gravel pen, five or six haynets of soaked hay per day, feed no sugars/molasses, but try a non molassed chaff with Laminator from Equimins.
As this is a long term problem you need to look at a long term solution, which will mean minimal grass and maximum loose exercise.
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/grass-your-horse-and-managing-risks.html
See Rockley Farm http://www.rockleyfarm.co.uk/
Read a few barefoot posts on here and some of the articles.
The barefoot diet is hi fibre, lo sugar plus minerals.

 

[_HP_]

If he is sore he should not be moving. When the laminae is sore it is weak and too much movement can cause the pedal bone to rotate.
My advice would be to box rest him for as long as it takes, until he is 100% sound on NO painkillers for at least 2 weeks, before allowing him out/walking him.
This is likely the reason that its gone on so long..he is not fully recovering.
I am not anti shoe but would also recommend barefoot if possible. Sheoing can often disguise how sensitive the hoof is and therefore make you think he is better than he is.
If you haven't already, learn how to take his digital pulse and take it daily. This is a good indicator of whether he is pain or not before he show's it by lameness.
Detox too...soaked hay only if possible but if you have to feed then I recommend Fast Fibre. Get his weight right down so you can SEE his ribs not just feel them. You will probably always have to monitor the amount of grass he gets and keep it very sparce.
I took on a pony over 3 yrs ago with recurrent laminitis and rotated pedal bones. and this is how I got him through it. He has been sound for 3 yrs and is back doing everything he was doing before laminitis. He is on sparse grazing all year round supplemented by hay (soaked if necessary).
The box rest may seem drastic but it is only a month or so of his life compared to the several months he has already had laminitis...
Hope that helps and good luck

 

[sanchob]

thanks for all the response. just to answer a few questions....He has been tested for IR but came back borderline.although he didnt eat much of the glucose feed it certainly affected him as he had sugar eyes and was looking shifty again. I think my vet still believes he is a possible metabolic hence why she wants him kept moving if poss. My farrier is very experienced in lamanitics and does a l ot of remedial shoeing in our area for vets...to remove his shoes now i think would possibly be a mistake as they are trimmed much shorter for shoes than they would be if barefoot...but i am open to any ideas and will certainly discuss it with him and my vet. He has hay soaked for approx 12 hours and is on blue chip lami lite only .He has always been on soaked hay but not to this degree and has never been overweight .As for pasture we are on a livery yard which complicates things but i have brought him a muzzle for the day when he does eventually go out and will just have to be extremely careful when i turn him out. I have made the discision to put him back on complete box rest to let things settle down.

 

[jj1966]

I have a mare that had major surgery nearly 3 years ago due to an infection that went up into her pedal bone area, I wont go into the woes of it all but I have had a really bad time with it! She also had laminitis many years ago and had a large white line area never corrected by trimming. So it has been an on going saga since I have owned her.
I have gone through 4 farriers and one being a highly recommended remedial farrier, spending nearly £4000 on surgery, corrective shoeing etc etc over this time, and the result, still horrible flat feet and lame.
By October last year I had enough, I told the farrier at the time to take her shoes off as what they were all trying to do wasnt working!
Two months ago in my desperation I contact a AANHCP trimmer, well the change is noticable already, on her first visit she informed me that my mare had laminitis (I didnt see any of the normal indications of lammi) and feet were in a bad state and the angle of her fronts were wrong, she might never be perfect, but blow me down I am amazed at what she has done in just 2 trims, and am looking forward to getting boots on and walking my mare out again. She still land toe first but not as extreme as before, hoping future trimming and boots will change this, my last farriers attitude was very poor, it was just to trim her, give bute if uncomfortabe and leave as field ornament. Which of course made me quite angry, this mare is only 16 yrs old.
I have been reading the ideas from Rockley Farm and as far as I am concerned this is the direction I am taking.
I wouldnt go back to a farrier if you paid me!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

We are a recovering Laminitic since July

In your horses case (no sinking or rotation) either barefoot or glue on shoes could be the way forward.

The fact he is so sore, Is he on bute??
does he react to the hoof testers?
doe he have a pulse?
has he got a dip (might be a little early) round the coronet showing detachment of the lamina ?

I would be inclined to keep him on box rest without shoes but with pads.( This is what we did and it helped immensely)

Let time for the feet to settle down.

I would be concerned in what was going on for him to be so sore. If the lamina is detaching sinking could happen

 

[Catj1uk]

My Welsh Cob went down with laminitis for the first time on 28 May so is starting his fourth week of box rest today. Xrays showed slight rotation in three feet and was very very sore on all feet. Vet/Farrier took all four shoes off and he has been on a deep bed with frog supports on all feet with the Stable Support System (basically thick foam pads) on his front feet too. He is much more comfortable on his hinds, not tucked up anymore and not shifting his weight but still sore on fronts when moving around his stable though. He is on Bute and ACPs with a detox diet, soaked hay, small low calorie feeds etc... He is lying down more though which worries me as although this will give his feet a rest, he must feel that he needs to do it to get some relief.

We x-ray again on Friday and if there is no further rotation, we are going to try glue on shoes so I'll let you know if they help. Good luck with your horse's recovery.

 

[YasandCrystal]

My Welsh Cob went down with laminitis for the first time on 28 May so is starting his fourth week of box rest today. Xrays showed slight rotation in three feet and was very very sore on all feet. Vet/Farrier took all four shoes off and he has been on a deep bed with frog supports on all feet with the Stable Support System (basically thick foam pads) on his front feet too. He is much more comfortable on his hinds, not tucked up anymore and not shifting his weight but still sore on fronts when moving around his stable though. He is on Bute and ACPs with a detox diet, soaked hay, small low calorie feeds etc... He is lying down more though which worries me as although this will give his feet a rest, he must feel that he needs to do it to get some relief.

We x-ray again on Friday and if there is no further rotation, we are going to try glue on shoes so I'll let you know if they help. Good luck with your horse's recovery.

My mare is on week 9 of boxrest. She has had Imprint glue on shoes for 3 weeks now. She has sinking and rotation in both fronts. I have her on a very deep bed of shavings and straw. She is on Danilon and paracetomol. She was on Sedalin also and she was lying down for several hours everyday. It is only in the last 4 days that she is lying down much less and generally looks much more comfortable. She will be re-xrayed in the next 2 weeks. The lying down really is nature's way of helping the healing. My mare is 16.3hh so lots of horse on those feet.